A veteran, back end of the Rotation starter, WS winning, able to hit, Former All- Star , wanting to play for the Nats, willing to teach our young guys the art of pitching seems like a steal to me for 1 million.
How front offices see it:
"veteran" = 40+ year old
"back end of the Rotation starter" = bad pitcher.
"WS winning" = in 1997
"able to hit" = for a pitcher
All-Star" = enough said
"wanting to play for the Nats" = a good thing, but only for the Nats
"willing to teach our young guys the art of pitching" = looking for a job as a pitching coach.
I have liked a lot of the moves Rizzo made, but signing Livo for $1 million was a low-risk, low-reward move and definitely not a "steal" since no other teams really wanted or needed him.